


Of Monsters And Mana

by shirosaclone



Series: Of Monsters And Mana [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dungeons and Dragons Ep, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, dnd, or Monsters and Mana ig, since voltron didnt give it to us I will, softies, the cute shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 14:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14956179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirosaclone/pseuds/shirosaclone
Summary: What happens when Lance drags Keith to play Monsters and Mana and shows him it's okay to 'waste time' (aka having fun).





	Of Monsters And Mana

**Author's Note:**

> Credits to my friend Bex for this lovely idea, this little series will mainly be focused on the many Dungeons and Dragons (or Monsters and Mana) games that Keith and Lance would play together, since I'm kinda salty Keith never played. I hope you enjoy xx

**Out of Game**

  
“What are you supposed to be?”

  
“A stealthy ninja.” Lance grinned, placing his hands on his hips.

  
“You mean, a thief?”

  
He grunted, not swayed by Keith’s prevalent attempt to throw him off his game, “So, what’s your deal, Mr.…?”

  
“Uh, Mr.…Keith? You know my name Lance.”

  
Lance raised an eyebrow. He stared at Keith as if wondering whether he was joking.

  
“Keith, your character’s name.”

  
“Keith.”

  
“You called your character your own name?”

  
“Should I not have?”

  
“Keith.” Lance exhaled sharply through his nose to emphasize his irritation, “We’re playing a game in a new magical world place, be creative. Now, dazzle me. Who are you and what’s your name.”

  
Keith stared at him, deadpan, mainly because he wanted to get on with the quest already. Coran looked as if he was gonna charge at Keith himself for saying that before Lance spoke and indirectly stopped him. He was staring at him, arms crossed and tapping his foot, as if he wanted to move too, staring right back at Keith with a relaxed expression. Keith groaned. Oddly enough, he had a story planned out and all, and was trying to hide his relief that Lance asked. Or Pike, as he now was being called when in game. But never thought to change his name, which Lance would probably hold against him if he plays again.

  
“Uh, I’m Akira. I’m a fighter, I’m on a quest to retrieve a long-lost family heirloom, it’s a special type of shield. Without it, my family has no protection from giants that have been roaming into my village.”

  
He felt it was brief but Lance nodded, satisfied. “Nice name, Keith.”

  
Keith grinned back and nodded in response before looking down at what was basically his digital character sheet. He had chosen the fighter, predictably because of the melee advantages it had, although Coran had been again displeased with his lack of establishing a “deeper and more excruciating understanding and development of the character” as he had put it. But Lance had brushed Coran off and told him to relax, this was a game to kill time, and to teach Keith how to let loose. Keith had appreciated that. He also appreciated Lance sitting down with him to show him how to play as well as play with him after their training session, and Lance said he didn’t mind at all because the game was pretty cool.

  
Keith appreciated Lance.  
Lance glanced at Coran and, when Coran nodded, smiled and placed his character on the board.

**In game**

  
_Pike had considered himself a pretty stealthy ninja. Except for the loud noises he made when vanishing and reappearing, which is actually how Akira found him. In the forest he had been shuffling through items he had pick-pocketed while keeping himself entertained, and Akira had practically scared him out of a tree.  
“Hey!!” He had landed with a thump, right on his ass actually-_

  
“Ha ha, very funny.”

  
“I thought it was hilarious.”

  
“Shut it.”

  
_-and in front of Akira’s feet. He looked up then shot to his feet; a fighter through and through with the way he was dressed, armor designed to be tactical in all areas of fighting and glowing a deep shade of blue. He stared at him, grinning. The forest was lush with thick trees; paths deeper into it were on Pike’s side, the sound of the river behind him, and a boy inches close to his face._  
_Pike looked at the boy, slender with his hair bundled up into a bun, two purple lines thinly stretching from his cheeks to presumably his collarbones, and he was sweating slightly in his clad armor. Pike asked him “Who are you? Why are you in the middle of the forest?”_

  
_Akira said he was on a quest. A family heirloom had been lost ever since the dragon armies attacks, but his family needed it back because of the giants that have been spotted nearing his city._  
_“My family is too big to all move out at once, I need to buy time. I’ve trained with the a member of the noblemen’s army in secret so I’m capable. Then I set off.” He had said. Pike understood, and replied with “Let’s head out then.”_

_Ignoring his new companion’s confusion, he picked up what he dropped and shoved them in his pockets before heading to the river._

  
_“So where is this heirloom anyway?”_

  
_“The Northern Taverns supposedly. It was lost so long ago, it being there is the only clue I have.”_

  
_“Spooky taverns in the North. Fun.. I’m assuming you’re lost?”_

  
_Pike watched closely; Did the boy just blush? Cute. Akira fiddled with a strap in his armor, looking down at his boots._

  
_“Technically yes and no, I made it here because there’s a cleric who knew my brother. He could guide us to the taverns. But I can’t seem to, uh, find him. He should be around here somewhere.”_

  
_Pike nodded, “I usually use the river to help me when I’m here, we can follow it.”_

_Akira nodded, and Pike could feel his cheeks warm up as they continued walking. Tall barks of trees covered their side views, swarmed with smaller bushes and greenery. The lake was a crystal blue. They had been walking for a while and Pike was about to scare Akira via poof-ing because it was taking so long to find anything helpful but Akira suddenly came to a halt to point. Turning to where he was looking, Pike initially saw nothing down the river bed until a set of claws rose out from the dirt, revealing a giant chameleon-like creature. Turning its sunken shaped head towards them, it screeches before leaping towards them on all four legs._

  
**Out of game**

  
“Coran, what is that?!” Lance brought his face close to the holographic map to stare at whatever the thing was. The glow of the map reflected some soft blue light onto his face, contrasting the darkness around them, and Keith found himself grinning because of how good it made him look, and disappointed when he moved his face back to listen to Coran’s rambling about the history of this crab thing. He looked confused. He glanced at Keith, catching his playful grin, and smiled back at him, winking, then leaned close to his ear, almost giving Keith a heart attack, before mumbling quietly “Do you think if we continue the game he’d notice and stop talking?”

  
Keith’s grin grew wider, “Does he always do this during games?”

  
Lance rolled his eyes, “Don’t get me started. A tip? Don’t pick the same character again or else he’ll have your head.”

  
Keith raised an eyebrow but turned to Lance and nodded anyway. He felt hot. Lance was gorgeous, and their faces were so close they could practically k-

  
“Are you guys listening?!” Coran’s face suddenly took up Keith’s entire vision, and the guy’s eyes were practically glaring into him, “Do you know nothing about the chameleon like greatness of the Giant Crab???”

  
“Uh, yes?” Keith backed up until his head and shoulders hit the back of the couch.

  
“Coran,” Lance reached over and gently pushed Coran back so his face was all Keith could see, “Sorry, now how do we avoid this thing again?” Maybe sitting next to the guy was a bad idea considering the high Keith felt. How could he play the game now?! And Lance, who was so oblivious, who had scooted closer to push Coran out of the way and was now so close Keith’s left side was practically on fire from how close it was, just sitting there.

  
“Well your best shot is probably to kill it together since its charging right at you. Its weak spot is the top of its head.”

  
Keith already had a plan forming in his head. He knew exactly how to defeat this thing based on the description and their characters’ abilities. He looked over at Lance, who seemed to understand him and said “Guide the way, leader.”

  
**In game**

_  
“AAAAAAAAH” Pike’s screams could probably be heard all the way from the Northern Taverns itself, as he ran in circles with a giant crab in tow behind him. He’d pause every now and then to make himself disappear and reappear but with so many arms the crab had it was difficult to do that alone with it lashing in multiple different directions at once. His clothes were feeling heavy from all the running, he could definitely say that._

  
“How am I tired? My stamina is high!”

  
“You rolled a lower number though.”

  
“This sucks.”

_  
Luckily, as soon as the crab was in position, Akira had leapt from the tree he had climbed and plummeted his sword deep into the crab’s head. It teetered for a second, losing its balance, before tipping onto its side and vanishing. Pike gave him a thumbs up before jogging over._

_  
“We make a great team!” He said._

_  
“Yea, we do.”_

_  
“And look at all this loot we get!” Pike squatted to pick up the dropped items the crab left behind._

_  
“Uh, its mostly meat and shells Pike.”_

_  
“Exactly, it’ll make good trade at the market.”_

_  
“How do you know we’re even close to a market?”_

_  
“Well firstly I’ll hold these until we find one because my pocket space is gigantic. I mean, look at this!” Pike turned and stretched to show his pockets, which really just showed off his soft tanned skin popping with the jewelry and bracelets he had on. Besides that his clothes fit him really well although he was right; he did have millions of pockets, “And secondly, look.”_

_  
Akira snapped himself out of his thoughts and turned to where Pike was looking. Surely enough, the crab chase led them to see a small village on the outskirts of the forest, dead ahead._

_  
“Surely there will be a cleric there.”_

_  
Upon arriving, the first thing Pike did, understandably, was trade the crab excess. He had returned triumphantly to Akira, a bag of coins in his hand._

_  
“Are you sure you didn’t steal that?”_

_  
“This? No I actually traded for this, the other stuff I stole.”_

_  
Akira raised an eyebrow but Pike just grinned at him, pleased with himself._

_  
“Okay, where’s th-” The ground shook. He looked at Pike, who looked just as concerned. It sounded like a stampede. Townsfolk started screaming, scattering in different directions. The surge of people shoved against them. Over the horizon, the dragon armies were sweeping the town, rummaging through houses, killing whoever got in the way._

_  
“Hey!” He heard Pike shout to his left, growing more distant. There were so many people running their opposite direction and his vision swam with strangers and his ears rang with their screams._

_  
“Akira?!?” To his right he heard his name and saw an old man, his face shrouded in robes, “This way!” He motioned to the small alley he was in, slowly backing up, waiting for him. That had to be him. The cleric._

_  
“Pike!” He could barely see his head over the crowd, mainly finding him by the ears, “The cleric!”_

_  
There was a distinct WHOOSH and Pike appeared by his side, grabbing his hand and WHOOSHING him into the alley. It was much quieter there, but the noises of disoriented people still rang in his ears._

_  
The cleric had already began moving, dashing into a shack hidden amongst the alleyways, and then running downstairs through a latch in the floor. Pike And Akira had run after him the whole way, determined to keep up with him. The house there was warm, lit with a few candles, decorated to be simple but elegant nonetheless. When they duo walked inside, they had realized they were still holding hands. Grinning, Pike squeezed playfully, and didn’t let go._

  
**Out of Game**

  
“Uh, guys, I didn’t know you’d get this tense about the game.” Coran peered at the two of them. Keith blinked, confused at first, until he realized he was also holding Lance’s hand, squeezing tightly too, while they watched the dice roll during the chase scene. Lance had rolled a low number again and was getting lost in the crowd, and had to roll really high to grab Keith AND run after the cleric with him and his vanishing and reappearing powers. They had huddled together to watch it roll and Keith realized they just never moved away. Again, their faces were side by side, and now that they turned to face each other, staring at the other’s eyes, they were only inches away f-

  
“Would you have left me?” Lance suddenly asked. He moved back to stretch since he was slouching over the table for so long, but leaned towards Keith again when Keith sat up too, “I mean, the cleric’s super important for your mission and you need him. If I rolled low what would you have done?”

  
Keith blinked, slightly surprised. He knew the Blade taught him to value the mission first, but it was something that never stuck with Keith permanently.

  
“I’d never leave you Lance.”

  
Lance just looked at him, really looking at him, as if trying to test if he was lying. Then he smiled softly and shoved his shoulder lightly. They both chuckled.

  
“Thanks Keith.”

  
Keith nodded, smiling back. He wished Lance knew how valuable he was. To the team. To Keith. Lance in the darkness of the room looked so cozy and comfortable, and Keith wanted to curl up into him and fall asleep right on his chest. _You’re so oblivious! Let me love you!_ He thought as Lance asked Coran what the cleric knew. He took a deep breath. _Fuck it, I’ll do this myself,_ and grabbed Lance’s hand again, carefully interlocking their fingers. Lance coughed awkwardly out of surprise, falling into mumbles before resuming talking to Coran. Then he settled himself to watch the map, his face flushed, but squeezing Keith’s hand nevertheless in reassurance that he liked what he was doing. He glanced at him before looking down at the map, smiling to himself. Keith felt his own face heat up. How he was going to live through the game itself, he had no idea, with how badly his heart was beating.

  
“So,” He heard Coran break the silence, “Who wants to talk to the cleric? I suggest someone more sociable, and he does have more respect for fighters, and not uh, thieves.”

  
“I’m not a thief!” Lance huffed before realizing something, “Bet you a lion ride I can convince the cleric first.”

  
“You’re on. Hope you like Black’s interior.”

**In Game**

  
_“Your presence is the reason why the dragon armies are wrecking havoc here. They believe you found the heirloom.”_

_The cleric lit another candle to read the pages of a book._

_  
Pike pushed forward before Akira could response, “Hi, the name’s Pike. What’s the deal with the heirloom anyway?”_

_  
“Yes tell ME first considering its my heirloom.” Akira butted in, trying to shove Pike but instead getting into a stalemate as he shoved back._

_  
“Or tell me because I asked first!”_

_  
“The heirloom seems to be a shield made of special scaltrite stone. If enough of those stones are collected they could easily kill a dragon. I believe the King wants to destroy the North Eastern Wall. Your family’s made of blacksmiths I assume because this is very rare.”_

_  
The boys stopped shoving._

_  
“Uh, did you tell me that or Akira?”_

_  
“Um, you?”_

_  
Pike whooped, hopping in celebration before realizing what was at stake._

_  
“Why destroy the wall?! That wall keeps all the old abandons out.” Akira watched the cleric shrug._

_  
“Our new king is a tyrant. But you did not hear that from me.”_

_  
The sound of footsteps loomed close by, followed by the neighing of horses and roar of goblins. Akira wondered what brought them there too, were they siding with a human king?_

_  
“How do we get to the shield, where is it? Did you know my brother?”_

_  
“Word had passed around from your father’s days. Here, take this map. You must hurry, the troops are closing in.”_

_  
The cleric gave Akira the map. To his right was a window that the two could climb that lead to the back alleys, or they could open the latch above and crawl through the shack._

_  
“Through the window.” Akira mumbled. Pike nodded and crouched on one knee to give him a boost. Akira shoved the window open and crawled out before pulling Pike after him. They snuck behind houses. The map had shown that the shield was buried beneath the third tree by the New Inn. It was far and the armies could easily find it should they choose to dig around. The village road on his right was dotted with soldiers, though according to the map it was the quickest way to the Inn. Or they could sneak on the rooftops and curve around to the Inn, taking longer._

  
**Out of Game**

  
“Keith!! A SIX?? We are so screwed!” Lance squirmed in his seat, staring at the die.

Keith had groaned too, it was such a low number. He squeezed Lance’s hand out of impulse, and Lance squeezed back, running his thumb over his knuckles. He had decided to go in slow and stealthy because there were too many enemies on the main road and they’d never make it, at least after conversing it through with Lance. But as a fighter his character’s stealth was low and he needed to roll a higher number to be able to sneak by stealthily, whereas Lance just needed a low number, being a thi-a ninja and all. Lance had successfully scored a 14 anyway, but Keith, well, he screwed them over.

  
Keith facepalmed as he watched their characters get thrown off the roof after a barrage of arrows flew at them. He grabbed the die again to fight.

  
“Come on, come ON,” Keith rolled. Ten, “Yes! Lance we can do this.”

  
He heard Lance laugh as he rolled. Five. He yelped. “Shit! They can’t kill us yet can they? We have the map.”

  
Coran looked at both of them, “Good point actually Lance, I was gonna have them kill you. Nice persuasion skills.”

  
Both Keith and Lance audibly sighed in relief.

  
“Although both of your health is low, so I don’t think you can do much.”

  
**In Game**

  
_“Hnngh” Akira grumbled as his back smacked the back of the cellar. They were in a wagon, stuck some sort of cellar thing. Pike was in front of him, sitting up. His ears were lowered. They were both shackled, though the shackles were rusty. Akira’s map was missing. The head sergeant must have taken it._

_  
Pike grinned at him, “At least we’re together.”_

_  
Akira almost laughed, “Yea.”_

_  
Pike looked at the shackles, “Hey, I think I can-”_

  
**Out of Game**

  
“Paladins, we need you on the bridge,” Allura’s voice crackled throughout the room.

  
“Awww man,” Lance looked bummed. Coran reassured him that the game will save their progress and that they could return, and although Lance smiled, Keith could see he didn’t want to go to the bridge. He tugged on their intertwined hands, pulling him to stand up.

  
“You owe me a lion ride after this,” he said, walking outside. Lance grinned.

  
“Yea I think I do.”

  
Then Lance’s expression changed and he kissed his cheek, softly but quickly, before dashing down the hallway yelling “RACE YOU THERE KOGANE!”

  
Keith stuttered, then tore down the hallway after him, his face red, but he was laughing anyway.  
_Maybe you’re not so oblivious after all Pike.._

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you enjoyed and have some spare coins, maybe leave a tip here?


End file.
